Utility midspan adapter

ABSTRACT

An adapter for splicing a plurality of taplines and a streetlight to a selected point on an electrical transmission line and including a stamped plurality of legs. One leg is spliced to the transmission line and the remaining legs project from the adapter and are spliced respectively to taplines. One of the legs is anchored to the transmission line and provided with a streetlight.

United States Patent Inventor James L. Mixon. Jr.

Harrisburg. Pa. Appl. No. 60,676 Filed Aug. 3. 1970 Patented Sept. 14.1971 Assignee AMP Incorporated Harrisburg, Pa.

UTILITY MIDSPAN ADAPTER 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 174/72 R, 29/628, 29/629, 174/43, 174/44 Int. Cl "02g 7/00 Fieldof Search 174/40 R, 41, 43, 44, 71 R, 72 R; 29/592, 628, 629, 630 F;113/1 19; 339/242, 243

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,924,640 2/1960 Barton174/44 X 3,115,540 12/1963 Greer.... 174/71 R 3,129,279 4/1964 Barton174/43 3,31 1,698 3/1967 Cockroft et al 174/43 X PrimaryExaminer-Laramie E. Askin Attorneys-William J. Keating, Ronald D. Grefe,Gerald K. Kita, Frederick W. Raring, Jay L, Seitchik and John P.Vandenburg ABSTRACT: An adapter for splicing a plurality of taplines anda streetlight to a selected point on an electrical transmission line andincluding a stamped plurality of legs. One leg is spliced to thetransmission line and the remaining legs project from the adapter andare spliced respectively to taplines. One of the legs is anchored to thetransmission line and provided with a streetlight.

PATENlEnsaPl-mm 3604.837

INVENTOR JAMES L, MIXON, JR.

UTILITY MIDSPAN ADAPTER FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates toan adapter for tapping a plurality of transmission lines and astreetlight to a main electrical line span at any point thereof.

According to the present invention, the adapter comprises a stamped andformed conductor provided with a main leg and two sets of secondarylegs, all of which legs are coined to a cylindrical configuration and inconformity with selected standardized wire gauge sizes. A layer ofinsulation is provided over the adapter. In use, insulation is strippedfrom selected legs. The main leg is spliced to a transmission line spanat any point thereof. The secondary legs are manually bent to projectgenerally laterally of the adapter and are spliced to taplines. Agenerally centrally located secondary leg is partially wrapped aroundthe transmission line, thereby anchoring the adapter thereto at alocation generally remote from its point of splice. The protruding endof the wrapped leg provides a tap on which a streetlight may beelectrically attached.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide an adapter for tapping a plurality of transmissionlines to a main electrical transmission line span at any point thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a stamped andformed conductor having a plurality of legs.

respectively spliced to transmission lines and with a main leg splicedto a main electrical transmission line span at any point thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an adapter fortapping a plurality of taplines to a main electrical transmission line,wherein the adapter is spliced and anchored to the transmission line.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an adapterfor tapping a plurality of electrical transmission lines and astreetlight to a main transmission line.

Still a further object of the present invention is to tap a plurality oftransmission lines to any point of a main electrical transmission linespan by an adapter which is spliced and anchored to the transmissionline and'provided with a tap on which a streetlight may be attached.

Other objects and many attendant advantages of the present inventionwill become apparent upon perusal of the following detailed descriptionof the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a fragmentary perspective ofan adapter according to the present invention, spliced and anchored to amain transmission line, and having a plurality of legs respectivelyspliced to electrical taplines, with a leg anchored to the transmissionline at a point remote from the location of splice and providing aprotruding tap on which a streetlight may be attached;

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the adapter according to the embodiment ofFIG. 1 which has been stamped from sheet stock to form a plurality oflegs, which legs are coined to cylindrical configurations in conformitywith standardized wire gauge sizes; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the adapter shown in FIG. 2 providedthereover with a layer of insulation material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With more particularreference to the drawings, there is illustrated generally at l, autility midspan adapter according to the present invention. The adapterincludes a pair of spaced connector blocks 2 and 3, each in the form ofa threebranched fork defined between a pair of parallel lateral planarsidewalls 4. Immediately adjacent to the sidewalls 4 are a'pair ofrectangular sidewalls 6 converging to form a tapered configuration. Amain, generally central longitudinal main leg 8 extends from theconverging sidewalls 6 and is provided at its terminal end thereof witha generally rectangular portion 10 having a terminal planar end wall 12.The branches of the block 2 are each provided thereon with parallellongitudinal legs 14. The central one of the legs 14 additionally isconnected to and projects from the converging walls 6 of the block 3.The three branches of the block 3 are respectively provided with legs 16and 18 provided respectively with terminal end portions 20.

The entire adapter 1 is advantageously stamped from a single piece ofconducting material, for example, dimensioned laterally by the walls 4and longitudinally between the endwalls 12 and 20. Initially the stampedlegs 8, 1'4, 16 and 18 may be formed with rectangular configurations asexemplified by the rectangular portion 10 on the leg 8. Subsequent tostamping, the legs are coined to the illustrated cylindricalconfigurations and in conformity with standardized wire gauge sizes. Forexample, the leg 8 may be coined to a 2/0 solid diameter of 0.364 inchto have the current carrying capacity of a 2/0 AWG, AAAC or AACconductor. The legs 14 and 16 may be coined to the same 2/0 solidequivalent conductor. The leg 18 may be advantageously coined to a No. 4AWG conductor equivalent which is of smaller diameter than the otherlegs as shown in the drawing.

With reference to FIG. 3, the adapter I is then provided thereover witha surrounding coating or layer of insulation, generally indicated at 22,completely covering the blocks 2 and 3 and each of the legs l4, l6 and18. The insulation layer terminates in an integral sleeve portion 24which encircles and partially extends over the leg 8. Accordingly, asubstantial length of the leg 8 which protrudes from the sleeve 24 isnot insulated.

In use, reference will be made to FIG. 1. The uninsulated main leg 8 iselectrically tapped to a main electrical transmission line span, aportion of which is indicated at 26 by a suitable connector 28. Theconnector 28 is of the AMP-PACT wedge-type manufactured by AMP lnc.,Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and connects the adapter 1 underneath andgenerally parallel to the line span 26. Selective ones of the legs 14and 16 may be manually bent from the positions shown in FIG. 2 topositions generally laterally extending from the adapteras shown inFIG. 1. The insulation layer covering the legs may be partially strippedoff as shown at 30 to expose a protruding end portion of the legs 14 and16. Such protruding and thus uninsulated end portions of the leg arespliced to electrical tap lines 32 by suitable electrical connectors28', which connectors are similar to the connector 28.

With reference yet to FIG. I, the insulated leg l8, being of relativelysmaller diameter is readily manually looped or partially wrapped overthe transmission line 26 thus anchoring the adapter 1 to thetransmission line 26 at a point remote from the location of the spliceconnection 28. Accordingly, the adapter 1 is suspended by the connector28 and the leg 18 from the transmission line span 26. A portion of theinsulation layer covering the leg 18 is partially stripped off as shownat 34 to expose a protruding uninsulated portion of the leg 18. Theexposed portion is advantageously connected to a hanging-typestreetlight (not shown).

Thus what has been described is a utility midspan adapter for connectinga plurality of taplines to a main electrical transmission line span atany point thereof. Additionally, the adapter is anchored to thetransmission line span at a point remote from the location of the spliceand provided with a protruding connector leg 18 to which a streetlightmay be electrically connected.

Other modifications and embodiments of the invention are to be coveredby the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A utility midspan adapter including: a pair of blocks, a plurality oflegs extending from said blocks, one of said legs connecting saidblocks, a main leg extending from one of said blocks, and one of saidlegs provided on the other one of said blocks being of smaller diameterthan the other of said legs.

2. The structure as recited in claim 1 and further including: a layer ofinsulation covering each of said blocks and each of said legs, with aportion of said main leg protruding from said insulation layer.

3. A method of connecting a plurality of electrical transmission linesto a main electrical transmission line span by a utility midspan adaptercomprising the steps of:

stamping said adapter from a electrical conductor material,

coining a plurality of legs on said adapter to cylindrical configurationand in conformity with standardized wire gauge conductor sizes,

providing a layer of insulation over said legs,

electrically connecting a leg to a selected point on said transmissionline span,

electrically connecting selected laterally extending legs to respectiveelectrical transmission lines.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 and further including the step of:anchoring a selected another one of said legs to said transmission linespan.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, and further including the steps of:stripping off a portion of insulation layer on said anchored leg,exposing an uninsulated portion'thereof. and attaching a Streetlight tosaid uninsulated portion of said anchored leg.

6. The method as recited in claim 3, and further including the steps of:manually bending selected legs to extend generally laterally of saidadapter, and stripping off portions of said insulation to expose aprotruding uninsulated portion of said selected legs prior to connectionof said adapter to said span.

1. A utility midspan adapter including: a pair of blocks, a plurality oflegs extending from said blocks, one of said legs connecting saidblocks, a main leg extending from one of said blocks, and one of saidlegs provided on the other one of said blocks being of smaller diameterthan the other of said legs.
 2. The structure as recited in claim 1 andfurther including: a layer of insulation covering each of said blocksand each of said legs, with a portion of said main leg protruding fromsaid insulation layer.
 3. A method of connecting a plurality ofelectrical transmission lines to a main electrical transmission linespan by a utility midspan adapter comprising the steps of: stamping saidadapter from a electrical conductor material, coining a plurality oflegs on said adapter to cylindrical configuration and in conformity withstandardized wire gauge conductor sizes, providing a layer of insulationover said legs, electrically connecting a leg to a selected point onsaid transmission line span, electrically connecting selected laterallyextending legs to respective electrical transmission lines.
 4. Themethod as recited in claim 3 and further including the step of:anchoring a selected another one of said legs to said transmission linespan.
 5. The method as recited in claim 4, and further including thesteps of: stripping off a portion of insulation layer on said anchoredleg, exposing an uninsulated portion thereof, and attaching astreetlight to said uninsulated portion of said anchored leg.
 6. Themethod as recited in claim 3, and further including the steps of:manually bending selected legs to extend generally laterally of saidadapter, and stripping off portions of said insulation to expose aprotruding uninsulated portion of said selected legs prior to connectionof said adapter to said span.